Taming the Beast
by Halftrak
Summary: Aisha gets a call from the top and is sent for ASAP! WHY? WHO KNOWS? Mabey something about the creature! This has some VERY funny parts but it also has a serious story goin... second of series
1. Gene gets wish and Suzuka has tea fetish

Hey all! This be my second fanfic but it's a continuation of the first "The Beast Within", so if you haven't read that one, I suggest you do, it makes life easier for everybody... yes even Bob down the street.

I do not own any of the Outlaw Star characters but I do own "Nick" AKA "Rotox" but I give consent in the event that anybody would for some ungodly reason want to use him in their fanfics...

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-1 Month Later after the incident at the Ruins-

"Gotta brush teeth...", He yawned as he stumbled down the dark hall half awake, running into things and occasionally stubbing his toes.

He saw the door was closed and light and a little steam flowed out through the space just between the door and the floor. He heard the shower running and a female voice singing. It was cold in is boxers and he really didn't feel like waiting so he risked it and tried to be as quiet as possible. He made it in and made a grab for his brush but being in the normal "I've-just-woken-up-and-am-incapable-of-doing-anything" mode, he knocked over the glass that he kept his brush in.

"HEY!" She wrapped herself in the shower curtain and stuck her head out

"HOLY SH-! Oh, it's just you Aisha", He said as he recovered from the shock with a hand over his heart

"Yeah it's just me! Cant a girl get a little privacy? Geeze Rotox, I swear...", she closed the curtain and continued singing as if nothing had happened

He was reluctant to leave the warm steam and go back into the cold hallway and hesitated for a second

"I didn't hear the door close Rotox..."

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry", he ducked out before taking her out of her good mood

Rotox went to Aisha's room to get his clothes. He came to the shop yesterday because his own business had been a little slow and he thought that it was about time to check up on his friends anyways. Last night though, he and Aisha had gotten past being just friends. It was his first time and was somehow better than he had expected

He found his symbiotic clothes on the floor in a black puddle and picked up the semi-liquid form and it began to cover him. The rest of the crew, mostly Jim, had a blast trying to figure out his set of armor that he had picked up back at the ruins which was also symbiotic.

After giving the symbiot enough time to get him dressed he made his way downstairs to find that everyone else was already in full swing. Jim typing on the laptop while at the same time eating breakfast, Melfina was making something for Gene who was watching TV, and Suzuka was drinking tea.

"Good morning..."

"Good morning Rotox, would you like me to make you something?" Melfina asked

"No thanks, I'm not really a breakfast person", he said as he sat down at the table next to Jim. He peered over at the laptop to see what he was doing. Paperwork and bills... boring.

"So Jim, anything on the agenda for today?"

"Well, we just had the shop fixed up, got Gilliam a complete systems check and defrag, got all of our weapons stocked back up, paid for the ship's parking for the next month, and finally paid off all the debts we've had using the money from the Dragonite haul at the ruins. So, we could use a job, but we don't NEED one. It's getting boring around here without the usual running around..."

Gene turned the TV off and came to the table. "So, how YOUR business been going?"

"Alright I guess", he shrugged, "I've been trying to make a name for myself to get more clients, so I've been doing a few big jobs, mostly bounty hunting. I've tried not to use the "shifting" but it happened on two of the three missions so far, and it's hard to get a reputation when you leave no survivors to tell about it"

Aisha came down looking a little more energetic and happy than usual, which is hard to believe.

"What's up with you?" Gene asked raising an eyebrow

"Nothing", she said with a smile

"Yeah right...", Gene looked back over at Rotox who was practically bright red from blushing. "I don't suppose you know anything either, huh?"

Rotox knew alright but was more willing to be shot than to be the first to say anything about last night but his graceful response said it all,"Duh uh what? Who me? No"

Gene suddenly caught on and a stupid smirk crossed his face as he leaned over and put a hand on Rotox's shoulder, "Well pal, I see some of my charm has rubbed off on ya!"

Suzuka who hadn't been paying attention also suddenly caught on with the screech of someone taking the needle off a turn-table in her head

Jim was too busy working to listen

Aisha spun a chair around and sat on it backwards, "I have good news"

"Let's hear it then", Gene sighed, doubting it was anything actually good coming from her

"I'm leaving!", she said putting a fist in the air

Gene almost fell out of his chair and gasped, "Finally!"

Jim snapped out of his work, "What for?"

"Well it seems the Empire wants me back ASAP, they're sending a ship for me any day now"

Jim still didn't understand,"Yeah, but why do they want you back now all of a sudden?"

"Ummm Wellll..."

"What's the big secret Aisha?", Gene was starting to get agitated

"Ahh what the Hell", she thought, "I'll have to tell them sooner or later"

"As you all know, I report to the Empire every once in a while to let them know what's going on, you know, big stuff. Well, I told them about our trip to the ruins and the treasure and..."

Gene already knew, "And Rotox, right?"

"Yeah, I kinda sorta mentioned him"

"And I bet you kinda sorta mentioned the transformation, right?", Gene wasn't gonna let her live this one down, "and now the Ctarl want Rotox to cut up into little pieces and put him into test tubes, right?"

Rotox swallowed hard

"We Ctarl Ctarl aren't barbarians! And besides, I am taking full responsibility for his safety and wellbeing"

It was Jim's turn to make waves,"Aisha, you can barely take care of yourself let alone someone else!"

"Hey!", Rotox started waving his hands around, "Come on guys, I'm not five years old, remember? I can handle myself, believe it or not..."

Melfina sighed, "It'll be strange with you two gone"

"Yeah, there goes the muscle of the crew", Gene hated to admit it

"Don't sweat it, I should be back soon if all goes well" Aisha said smiling

"So what do they want me for?", Rotox asked

"How should I know? They don't tell me anything, the information always goes one way in this job, from me to them"

---

The rest of the day passed slowly. Gene polished the caster then hit the bar. Jim was down at the launching fields checking up on the ship. Suzuka was meditating in her own room. Then there was Melfina, Aisha and Rotox who basically moped around. Aisha was in the living room sitting upside-down on the couch with her legs thrown over the top. Rotox was entertaining himself by twiddling his thumbs across from her and Melfina was cleaning random... stuff...

"Oh my God Aisha!", Rotox gasped suddenly with a smirk

"What?"

"Be careful with that couch, you might brake it and have to land another waitress job to pay for it!"

"How'd you know about those?", she said surprised as she turned right side up

"Gene gave me the jist of the crew's story and it came up... I find it hard to believe you a waitress"

"I'll have you know I made a GREAT waitress! AHEM Except for that restaurant I kinda... destroyed..."

Rotox burst out laughing and Aisha got up and started shaking a fist just as Gene came in

"Aisha, how long before I'm removed from your pleasurable company?", Gene asked sarcastically

"Screw you Gene! I'll be gone as soon as the Empire sends a ship"

Gene didn't like the answer, "And judging from our past experiences with the Empire and it's reliability, that should be how many years?"

Aisha sent a perfectly aimed magazine across the room and smacked him in the face

"TWO POINTS!", Rotox put his arms in the air

"Hey! Who's side are you on?", Gene blurted

"The winning side, duh. And you are currently two points behind", He said laughing

"Well then!", Gene said grabbing a cereal box, "Eat this!"

He chucked it at Aisha who narrowly deflected it with a box of tea bags, "Where the Hell did these come from?"

Suzuka rounded the corner and had a panic attack as soon as she saw her tea was in danger,"OHMYGODGIMMEMYTEA!", she shrieked as she flew across the room and snatched the box and in a flash was gone

The three sat in awe, they knew Suzuka liked her tea and was always drinking it but Daaaammmnn!

Rotox put his hands in the air again, "TWO POINTS FOR AISHA! THAT EQUALS FOUR POINTS TOTAL!"

"WHAT? This game sucks!"

"Gene, don't be such a poor sport", Aisha said stretching out on the couch getting ready to sleep

"We could go in my ship right now", Rotox said eating the cereal out of the box that had been thrown

"I hate you all, yer all plotting against me! You just want to- Wait what'd you say?", Gene picked Rotox up by his shirt

"A! The threads don't like people grabbin at em...", Rotox warned as his symbiotic clothes started to make a growling sound at Gene

Gene dropped him and shuddered, "Creepy... But you said you could go in your ship right now?"

"Sure", He shrugged

"Well then if I could ask my best buddy a favor..."

"Of course"

"GO NOW!", Gene yelled but then lowered his voice to a whisper, "I need a brake from her!"

"Ok then, no prob, but you owe me one", he turned towards Aisha,"Ok Aisha, let's pack up and hit it", he said heading towards the door

Outside--

"I'm glad to be getting away from him for a while, and I get to go home! I cant wait!", Aisha said as she left the shop and was practically skipping down the street

"Yeah, I feel pretty good about stretchin my legs too", he said while cracking his knuckles

After a short walk across town they came to the shop that Rotox had set up for his own business. It was three stories but needed fixing up.

Aisha tilted her head, "I thought we were going to your ship"

"We are. I kinda didn't feel like paying for parking so I just turned it to stealth mode and eased it right down through my bedroom then my other bedroom below that and then it kinda went through my living room and about 50 feet into the ground. Not a scratch though! A nice parking job if I do say so myself"

"ARE YOU NUTS? Didn't you think you could get caught? Could you even imagine the fines? How do you live in your house?"

"Settle down... First of all my ship is THE BEST, not one of the best, not second best, but THE BEST stealth ship around. Except for stuff braking, you'd never have known I was landing a ship there. Secondly, there are no fines when you don't get caught, and third... living is a little... cramped but it still works out and best of all no dock fees! I ought to publish my ideas, I'd make millions!"

"I think your having an off kinda day because you've been acting funny", Aisha was starting to get slightly nervous at his swaying back and forth

"I had some of Suzukas tea when she wasn't looking, and I think that's messin me up. I'm gonna have to ask her what's in that stuff cause things are kinda of spinny and it's getting worse and could you please stand still?"

"I am"

"I don't think I'm gonna be flying tonight", He started towards the house haphazardly but Aisha came over and supported him

"I'm always the one that ends up taking care of you"

"Yeah I know. Yer too good too me...", that must have been the first thing that he said that night that both of them knew he really meant

They made it inside and he said that she could take the single person bed upstairs and to make her way around the ship. He grabbed a blanket and laid down on the floor... if lying down was what you'd call it. It was more like he fell down with a thud and started snoring. Aisha shrugged and made her way up the stairs and noticed that they house's layout actually worked even with a 200 foot long ship parked vertically through it."Mabey he's got something goin for him there" she thought aloud. She finally found his bed and jumped in and quickly fell asleep.


	2. Mission to Ctarl homewOH MY GOD WHATS TH...

Aisha was woken up the next morning by Nick

"Eight hours? Or have I woken the delicate flower up too soon?" Nick said using her own words to taunt her

"You're the only delicate flower around here, what kind of man gets wasted off of tea?" She said with a smirk

"Hey that was some screwed up stuff that I'm avoiding with care for the rest of my days, mark my words. Anyways, if you keep pickin on me, I might decide not to take you on your little vacation home" He crossed his arms and turned his head

"Oh come on", she sighed and gave him a soft punch in the stomach

"What are you doing?" He asked flatly

"Picking on you, but you're not putting up much of a fight", and she hit him again

"Well, I can't hit girls", he rolled his eyes and she hit him two more times

"I could do this all day, what a great workout it would be!"

"I could also stand here all day and take your life threatening blows but I think I'd die of boredom faster sooo..." he quickly scooped her up and put her over his shoulder

"Hey!"

"All's fair in love and war", he said and gave her a tap on the rear

"Hey NOT fair!"

"Wasn't me!" he got a whip in the face by her tail

He laughed and carried her into the ship and set her down,"Ok I need complete silence to maneuver this thing outta here and with enough luck, we'll live and my house wont cave in!"

"Yer even worse than Gene!"

"Yeah yeah", he said waving his hand while buckling up and flipping switches

Aisha grabbed some extra belts for the co-pilot seat

"What are you doing?", Nick asked raising a brow

"Knowing how you landed this thing, I'm amazed that you're still here. I'm not taking any chances", she said pulling the belts tight

"This ship is a lot tougher than you give it credit for, but suit yourself... literally", He grabbed the shifting rod and throttle and slowly backed out and cleared the other apartments with room to spare and they soon shot out of the atmosphere

"See? No prob, now I just turn off invisibility and-"

"Invisibility? It sure as heck wasn't invisible last night or this morning when I was standing next to it"

"Well that's because it's visible when you are 10 meters or closer, otherwise you can't see it. I set it like that so it's not completely impossible to get back inside. I wouldn't have pulled that off if it didn't have that capability. Like I said, THE BEST stealth ship"

"Ohh"

-----

The flight was pretty uneventful but the distance wasn't too far so they managed to survive. As for the landing, it was much better than Aisha had planned for which was something like them ejecting out of a fireball. She let out a sigh of relief when they had landed almost flawlessly.

The docking platform clamped onto the side of the fighter just as one of the comm screens blinked on.

Nick looked at the screen and saw a gruff old Ctarl. He was about to greet him but was knocked out of his chair with a friendly; "AISHA? REPORT!"

She popped up giving a salute, "Yes Sir!"

He regarded her for a minute before speaking with a smile, "Well Aisha, it's been a while since your departure, welcome home!". She was definitely surprised to get such a warm welcome after her big demotion. The old guy regained his "old man" expression, "Have you returned with the specimen? And is it intact and contained?"

"Yeah, I have him, and as far as I know, it's fine, but it's not contained...", She gave a small shrug

"WHAT? You have something like that running around? CODE SILVER: QUARANTINE ALARM!", He punched a button on his console and lights started flashing throughout the docks and doors bolted shut. After a minute the alarm subsided and the old man came back on the screen,"Aisha, tell me quickly, where is the creature?"

She gave a sigh and pointed at Nick

The old dude focused his gaze behind her, "You! Human!", Nick, confused, pointed at himself, "Yes you! Move!"

"Aisha? Do they even know what I look like when not transformed?", he sighed

"I didn't have time to explain ALL the details", She said, casually waving her hand at him and he dropped his head and let out a sigh.

Nick walked to the screen and demanded to be released. After much arguing and compromise, they agreed to let him off, but only after telling him that there were dozens of guards in the area with tranq. guns just in case he tried anything stupid

"Sure! Great! If I do anything wrong put me to sleep... Yes, OK! BYE!", He punched the end transmission key but the screen popped up again

"Oh... my... God!", He shook his fists, "What now?"

A different Ctarl came on, this one was a female, "We need you to be registered into our network system. What is your name?"

Nick knew there was no way around this so he gave in,"Rotox Cariotarian"

"Species?"

"Ertarian"

"What? I've never heard of them" Aisha interrupted

"Well that's good, because I just made it up. My kind never really named ourselves so I am now. Ertar in our old language means people, so I guess that's what it would have been since that's how many cultures have done it"

The registration lady looked mildly annoyed at the interruption but continued, "Uhh... Ok... Age?"

"Does stasis count?"

"If you could give your age with and without stasis, I'd appreciate it"

He started counting on his fingers, "Hmmm, about 1329 with stasis. Without? Uhh, about 20 years old"

The questioning lasted another 10 minutes. When Nick finished them off, the registration lady congratulated him on his new citizenship and thanked him for his cooperation.

"New citizenship? Aisha, I'm not gonna have to live here am I?" sweat ran down his brow

She put a finger on her chin, "Nooooo, or at least I think not"

The bulk head doors released with a hiss and he gave a shrug and practically dove out, "THERE IS A GOD!"

---------------

They headed towards the main part of the city walking on elevated paths that were made of metal but the sides were shrouded in vines and leaves. There were even water falls that were feed by canals that ran over the tops of the buildings. Nick liked the feel of the place, it was strangely urban yet natural. The Ctarl must have put a lot of work into incorporating the jungle into their technology and everyday life.

"The Mayor wants to welcome you into the city personally. I bet there's gonna be news crews and everything! They might even give me a promotion! And promotions mean money and money means... FOOOOOOD!", Aisha rubbed her hands together

"And what do I get?"

"My appreciation, of course!"

"Cant wait"

She caught the sarcasm, "Geeze Nick you're so greedy!"

He fell on the ground and twitched. As he got up he noticed a strange vehicle pulling up next to what he thought was some kind of police station or something. He watched as four armed guards got out and escorted someone towards the door. He tried to see who or what it was. Then there was a small break in the passing crowd and he could see it perfectly.

"What the Hell is that?" He said scratching his head

"What?" Aisha turned around and looked to where he pointed,"Ummm, that would be classified information"

"Well then, if you wont tell me, I think I'll just march back to my ship, head home and go to sleep", he said with a threatening smile

"NO! You can't! This is my big break!"

"If you tell me, I won't say anything to anyone. Promise"

"You better not or so help me I'll... I'll... I don't know what I'll do, but you really won't like it!" She had her index finger poking his chest

"Ok then, so tell me"

"They're a race almost exactly like the Ctarl Ctarl, only where we are felonic they are canine, fox mostly. They come from one of our moons. The general public doesn't know about them, they think they're just mutants or something", She suddenly raised her voice and put a fist in the air, "We Ctarl Ctarl impose our might upon them because we are superior and they are accursed creatures!"

"AISHA! You know why the Ctarl Ctarl Empire always gets screwed over? It's because of all the stupid stuff they do, and this is one of em! Back when my race was still thriving, we monitored Earth, back before its people had space capabilities. We saw wars going on all the time and our people often gambled on their outcomes for sport. But in one war, there were these guys called Nazis and they killed just about everybody that didn't look like them or follow their beliefs. They were extremely powerful for a short time but it was probably the fact that they participated in genocide that ultimately finished them off because so many wanted to put an end to it. I lost money on that one... bummer. Anyways, even though this isn't exactly genocide, it's still racism and still wrong."

He glanced up and noticed that a huge crowd had formed and was listening to everything he and Aisha had said. He quickly put his arm around Aisha and waved,"Hey everybody! This is Aisha!"

Everybody in the crowd put on a smile and said, "I AISHA!"

"What are you doing?" she growled

He whispered into her ear, "Just go along with it or else your classified information is on the news tomorrow"

"Ill get you back for this one!" she muttered then gave a smile and waved

"Aisha here is nuts!", He announced and the crowd let out a big "OOoooo!" as if it were a show

Her eyes bulged out,"WHA-!", He quickly put his hand over her mouth

"See, if I don't have this crazy conversation with her everyday, she flips out, kinda like what she's doing now", She was clawing feebly at his arm

"Well folks, I think Aisha and I should go. She's starting to get cranky and needs her nap back at the institute", He started backing away while waving, "Say bye Aisha". Her eyes turned red and she frantically swung her arms around

"BYE AISHA!" The crowd cheered and then slowly dissipated

Nick took her into an alleyway and decided it was a good time to let her loose on him.

She pinned him to the wall, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! IM A DECORATED CTARL CTARL OFFICER NOT SOME WANDERING LOON!" He reached around and started rubbing the back of her neck and she purred, "But you know I can't stay mad at you...", and fell asleep. He remembered that maneuver from his training back in the Ertarian Empire. It was what they called a reverse pressure point since it didn't cause pain, it only induced sleep.

"Yeah, I know, I'm just that good", He smiled and hoisted her onto his shoulder gently and exited the alley, "Man, she must be gettin used to me carryin her around all the time. Sigh, now to find this stupid city hall"

-----


End file.
